Projo Sox Blog

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Just because the Red Sox' offense is struggling, don't expect Terry Francona to make too many -- if any -- lineup changes heading into Game Three of the ALCS Tuesday night at Fenway.

Prior to Monday night's 9-1 loss to the Rays, Francona said he believes the club he puts on the field gives the team the best chances of winning.

Jacoby Ellsbury is struggling and is 6-for-32 in the postseason at the top of the order. David Ortiz is hitless in his last 12 at-bats in the postseason. Those two need to be major contributors offensively if the Red Sox are to have success against a very good Tampa pitching staff.

Ortiz is "right in the middle of our lineup," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "When he does get hot, it'll be certainly welcome. At the same time, when certain guys aren't hitting, you just expect somebody else to pick up the slack. That's how we've always felt. We're not going to live and die with one guy. We'll win as a ballclub, and on certain nights when it's tough, we'll lose as a ballclub."

Still, don't expect any drastic changes in the Sox' lineup.

"We're one of the best offenses in baseball," said Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who went 2-for-3 with a walk in Game Three. "We've shown that all year. I don't see a need to hit the panic button and start doing things out of the ordinary. We just need to swing the bats better. We don't need to change anything."

With Monday's loss, the Sox trail the Rays in the series, 2-1.

"We feel fine," said Pedroia. "We've been here. We just have to come out and play better baseball. There are no excuses. They just came out and kicked out butts tonight. They played great and we didn't. That's was the bottom line. It was a straight-up [butt] kicking. We have to play better."

 Tags  ALCS David Ortiz Dustin Pedroia Red Sox Terry Francona

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